Tindome Lantant An Run
by Silraen
Summary: As the sun dawns upon the healing city of the newly-crowned King of Gondor, her beloved husband, Arwen reflects upon her bitter parting with her father that had taken place but a day before. And the only comfort that she can find is in the arms and love o


Tindome Lantant An Run

_By Silraen and Navana_

The early morning sun had barely made its presence known in the sky as Lady Arwen Undomiel, Queen of both Gondor and Arnor, and wife to her beloved Aragorn, rose from their bed without a sound, slipped a light cloak over her shoulders, and made her way slowly out to the lush gardens of Minas Tirith. She had not been able to sleep at all the night before, for her mind whirled with bitter thoughts and her heart was troubled. Even the pale rays of the dawning sun did not warm her, and the soft cooing of the morning doves did not soothe her. She suddenly found herself standing in front of the small, yet glorious white sapling of Gondor. Its thin yet proud branches were already covered with silver leaves and pale blossoms. Silently, Arwen sat down beside it, and once again lost herself to her thoughts.

_Wherever you go... I will follow..._ he wished to tell her. _I will be there for you, meleth nin, until there is no star in the heavens and no water in the seas, and beyond till the end... for you have been there for me..._ The King Elessar Telcontar strode, wrapped in not his kingly cloak, but rather his tattered ranger cloak. It was strange that he found it more comfortable than any fabric that his own realm could find. But none of this was truthfully upon his mind, all he wanted to do was find Arwen, whom he woke to find missing from his side. His purposeful step echoed from the pathway in the upper gardens of Minas Tirith.

She did not hear his approach from behind, so lost was she in her thoughts. _Ada...oh why Ada did you have to take leave of me with such bitterness? Why did you make my heart feel such guilt and shame?_ Her mind wandered to when she and her father had last spoken. He had been so bitter, so fierce. He had not needed to say what he felt...she had heard his thoughts, as if he had been screaming from a mountaintop. Tears of pain welled in her blue eyes, and she bent over, burying her face in her hands.

"Arwen..." breathed Aragorn as he folded his arms about her suddenly. He had come to her, as she, so many a time had come to him; to comfort her. _"Meleth nin..."_ he too felt the bitterness in Elrond's words when he had left.

Trembling, she leaned back into his warm embrace, and even as she turned to look sadly into his face, her tears still ran and glistened like jewels upon her smooth cheeks. "Estel...oh, _meleth nin..._he was so angry with me..." her voice trailed off as she buried her face in his chest, her cold tears soaking through his tunic.

"Nay, Arwen... He was not angry... He loved you so much as to wish that you came with him to Valinor..." he tried to comfort her. His parting with Lord Elrond had been bittersweet, yet, he had comfort in knowing that he was finally passing. But here, he could find nothing to truly comfort his beloved with.

She shook her head and turned her face back up to his. "I know that he loved me, and that he still does love me." She paused for a moment, closing her eyes tightly as if she could ward off the memories that her mind was so vividly producing. "Yet," she breathed, "you were not with us when we parted. He was so bitter, Estel. So bitter... And...and _Naneth..."_ her voice faded as fresh tears trickled down her cheeks, and she opened her pain-filled eyes to gaze up into his.

"Arwen," he sat beside her, his right hand drawing her tear-streaked face to his shoulder. _"Meleth nin,_ this was your choice, and any choice may be trying, but that is where strength is made: through abiding by our choices."

She went very still at his words, her head resting gently on his shoulder. "And I find my own strength within you," she whispered softly.

"So long have you been my stronghold," he caressed away a loose lock of her silken hair. "My one true faith... You are my strength."

"For so long have we been here for one another. If I had sailed West...I know I would have not been able to live without you. And yet...my heart feels so torn, _meleth nin,_ though I know it should not...not now...not with what we have shared and experienced together...through the countless years, and through the hourless nights of recent days..." She smiled faintly, then became somber once again. "But torn I feel."

"Never could I guess how it feels, love," his hand lingered on her cheek before falling on her shoulder. "Only can I promise you that every miracle that I have ever dreamt of is coming true now. All I could ever wish is for your happiness."

She smiled gently and turned her face to his, her head still resting upon his broad shoulder. "You have always been the polestar of my life. Through the darkness of the Shadow, you were there, a beam of hope...my polestar...shining through. I had put all my trust, faith and love into that one beam...in you. And I still do, even now. Forever." Her hand lightly grasped his that lay on her shoulder. "Though I may feel torn, beloved, everything I have ever dreamt for has come true. The Shadow has fallen. You have become the King you were meant to become. You have taken me as your wife, and I have become all of what a wife is..." a light suddenly gleamed faintly in her eyes, "all except for this." She took his hand within hers and laid it to her abdomen, then her eyes met his once more.

"And," he grinned, "Soon, beloved, soon, that dream will come, for I too dream of the day that there will be a child of your beauty, your love, and your faith."

She looked down to where his hand pressed lightly to her. "Yes," she murmured. "I wish for many children, _meleth nin._ As many as is in your will to give me," a bit of a smile could be heard in her low voice. "Yet it pains me to know that never will my father nor my mother ever see their grandchildren."

Tenderly, his right hand brushed the underside of her smooth chin. "We can only do so much to change the ways of the world. And they change as they please. This time was to pass, undaunted by war or peace." So many times he had thought this in his mind, reasoning why things changed in the way they did. This was his only reason.

She closed her eyes and turned her face to his neck. "I know," came her soft reply. "But I cannot help but feel a pang of sorrow. Yet, so long as our children have you and I, I cannot feel all sorrowful."

Aragorn's glimmering smile painted his face. "You have made my life complete, Arwen," he breathed. "And had I the chance, I would keep you from all sorrow, for you have lead me from darkness, and into light once more. The constant truth in a world of lies. And because of you, I can feel no sorrow."

Arwen gazed into his crystalline depths. "Then show me how not to feel sorrow now, _meleth nin,"_ she said softly. "I do not want to feel pain of the heart any longer...not now...never when I am with you do I want to feel sorrow." Her hand caressed his.

Slowly, his hand turned over, gripping hers. His eyes closed as he bent in, his lips taking hers. _Let me show you, my only love, my one true destiny._

Aragorn's kiss was so tender...so loving...and even as she responded delicately to him, even as she wrapped her arms gently around him, she felt hot tears prick her eyes. This was what she needed...he was whom she needed.

Gently he pulled but slightly back. "My breath of life, _meleth nin,_ is drawn from your lips, and your pain I bear with you, for you have my heart." His face did not draw away, but rather, lingered inches from hers, his hand tenderly caressing her cheek.

She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his, his loving words that came straight from his heart...straight from his soul...brought fresh tears to her lovely eyes, and she met his gaze once again. "And you have mine. Always you have mine...you have every part of me, Estel," she breathed, her lips so close to his own. "Your very presence brings joy to my heart...and when you hold me in your arms...when you caress me," she raised her hand to his face and ran her fingers from his cheek downward to where the Evenstar lay, "I feel as if I can dance amongst the stars." Even through her tears, a bright light could be seen dawning once again in her depthless eyes.

"Then together, we shall go, to dance across the heavens, for your love lifts me higher than the peak of the highest mountain and above where the winds dance freely," he grinned. "There is time to grieve, but to linger on it would not be the wishes of your father nor your mother. They but only wish for your happiness, wherever you are."

She was silent for a long moment, gazing into his eyes, and her hand that was upon the pendant traveled to the back of his neck and there, her fingers caressed him. _"Hannon le, meleth nin,"_ she murmured, her voice low and loving.

With the softest of notions, he hushed her. _I need no thanks, for countless times you have come to me, restoring my faith, my hope, and my purpose. Never could I repay what you have done for me._ Once more, he smiled his radiant smile.

And in seeing his smile, Arwen found herself smiling luminously as well, and she came to him, her lips finding his in a sweet, yet deep kiss. _By the Valar...but how I love you..._

Life flowed through her kiss. He felt it swim through his mind and sink deep into his bones. It pulsed in his veins and filled his lungs. _Your choice has completed all that I could have ever wished for, Arwen, and if ever a day comes that you regret it, know that I will try with every bit of me, to change your mind._

_It will not come to pass..._ her thoughts whispered to his, for she had heard him...she had felt his words in her heart.

Again, his lips parted from hers, a glistening light in his eyes. The newly crowned King of Gondor reveled in this perfect moment. In the distance, the sun peaked over the horizon, the luminance of the glowing fire burst into the sky, the glory of dawn appearing before the foot of the world. _"Hannon le, Brennil Undomiel."_

And as the beaming streaks of sunlight rose in the East, the might of Men as well rose, for at last, the children of the Valar had passed over the Sea, though, not without leaving behind a great legacy and hope that the world will indeed go on. And the sun would set one day for the rule of Gondor, but uncountable days would pass before the realm of the Kings of old would vanish. And for now, the victory of the Great War and the rise of the once fallen line of Kings was all the people needed to have to know that there was hope. For from the ashes of a world that they had forsaken he came bearing the name, but his real hope blossomed in the heart of the Lady Undomiel, and ever would he be thankful.

_fin_

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Completed on:

August 7, 2003

~ ~

Full of Grace

By Sarah McLachlan

the winter here's cold, and bitter

it's chilled us to the bone

we haven't seen the sun for weeks

to long too far from home

I feel just like I'm sinking

and I claw for solid ground

I'm pulled down by the undertow

I never thought I could feel so low

oh darkness I feel like letting go

if all of the strength and all of the courage

come and lift me from this place

I know I could love you much better than this

full of grace

full of grace

my love

so it's better this way, I said

having seen this place before

where everything we said and did

hurts us all the more

it's just that we stayed, too long

in the same old sickly skin

I'm pulled down by the undertow

I never thought I could feel so low

oh darkness I feel like letting go

if all of the strength

and all of the courage

come and lift me from this place

I know I could love you much better than this

full of grace

full of grace

my love


End file.
